Untamed Africa Safaris

Professionally guided Custom  Zimbabwe and Botswana Adventures  Okavango / Chobe / Hwange / Matusadona / Zambezi

• Walking Safaris and game drives
• Upper Zambezi Canoeing
• Lake Kariba Houseboat 
• Botswana overland packages and mokoro trips

Principal guides include:

• STEVE BOLNICK who has been guiding professionally since 1978 and as well as training aspiring guides. Steve holds two degrees in Zoology and one in Animal Science. He is a licensed Professional Guide in Zimbabwe and Botswana  and highly experienced mobile-safari guide. Steve designs our tours and safaris, supervises ongoing guide training and conducts most of our walking safaris.  He as led research safaris for the WWF, the JLB Smith Institute and Washington University.  Clients have included well-known celebrities. 
• PETER COMELY is based in Botswana but has guided professionally throughout Africa for the past 21 years. He is recognised as one of Botswana’s foremost guides. His interests are extremely varied and his knowledge on a broad range of diverse subjects is astounding. Peter has gained a reputation for exploring remote and previously “unopened areas”. Together with his wife, Salome, he has written three authoritative guidebooks on Botswana and Namibia. He is also a widely published photographer and poet. Peter brings to Untamed Africa his impeccable guiding reputation and his poetic soul.
• INNOCENT CHIGAMA one of the most experienced river guides on the Upper Zambezi, and has an impeccable safety record after all his years of guiding on the river. Innocent’s quiet confidence and charisma instill instant trust in hisguests, while his humour and knowledge entertain. 

SALOME MEYER has guided professionally in Botswana for the past 18 years.  In addition to being recognised as an excellent and dedicated guide Salome has years of experience in handling bookings and custom-designing safaris for demanding guests. Together with Peter, she has published three guidebooks on Botswana and Namibia. 

In Botswana where the road conditions in and around the national parks are primitive the time taken to reach our destinations is often long. Each safari is backed up by a supply vehicle which goes ahead to set up camp and have drinks on ice and food ready. In Zimbabwe the road infrastructure to certain parks is better and therefore the use of a back-up vehicle is not always necessary and is determined by the itinerary and group size.

A typical day on safari is a wake-up call at sunrise with hot water for your morning ablutions followed by a light continental breakfast. We then set off for an early morning game drive in an open safari vehicle to track the nocturnal animals making their way to bed. We like to keep the activities flexible depending on what surprises we might find in the bush. We usually return for brunch and siesta. Tea & biscuits are served before we set off on the afternoon game drive. We return to camp at dark to find the campfires blazing and drinks on ice and snacks ready.  Hot showers are available to wash off the day’s heat and dust. The waiters will serve dinner in the dining tent or under the stars to the blissful call of lions, hyena and jackal. On days when we are moving from one campsite to another we rise early, have a light breakfast and spend the day game viewing and driving to our next destination with a picnic lunch en route. Once we are out of the way the staff will break and move camp. We will then meet up and drive in convoy to the next campsite where the staff will set up camp while we explore our new surroundings. 

We recommend a minimum duration of 4 days/ 3 nights for a mobile safari in any one area or a 12day/11 night mobile safari visiting several national parks.
 

WALKING SAFARIS

For many years Zimbabwe has been a leader in wildlife conservation and utilization. As a result the professional guides in this country are amongst the best qualified in the world. An extremely challenging training and examination system ensures that those who qualify are not only highly knowledgeable about the bush but also entirely capable of ensuring the safety of their guests while on safari. A licensed professional guide who is suitably armed always conducts all Untamed Africa’s walks. 

We offer walking safaris to any or all of Zimbabwe’s national parks as well as certain areas in Botswana and Zambia. We will tailor the trip to suit any time frame available. Guests may choose to track game on foot, or by vehicle or sit quietly at a hidden hide and observe what happens in and around the waterhole. We can set up a base camp from where we explore the immediate area or our staff will pack up and move camp while we walk from one camp to the next.
 

 BACKPACKING SAFARIS

Untamed Africa also offers backpacking safaris into several areas. These trips allow our fitter guests to reach the remotest areas that are rarely visited by people, affording an exceptional pristine wilderness adventure. An experienced and suitably armed professional guide leads all of these backpacking safaris. Guests carry their own personal belongings as well as sleeping bag, lightweight tent and food. Our favourite backpacking safaris are in the Matusadona National Park, but we also operate these safaris in the Okavango Delta, Chizarira and Hwange. 

CANOEING THE ZAMBEZI RIVER

Untamed Africa conducts canoeing safaris on the Upper Zambezi River between Botswana and above the Victoria Falls. We will navigate small rapids, explore secret channels and islands, paddle wide expanses of this massive river or just quietly drift past hippo, antelope, buffalo or elephants grazing on the banks. All our canoeing safaris traverse the Zambezi National Park, affording true wilderness experiences with ample opportunities for game viewing and bird watching. 

We offer from short 3-hour paddles in fibre-glass canoes with professional paddlers, to multi-day trips where our staff pre-erect a comfortable, private bush camp at idyllic locations. For the longer trips we use inflatable two-person canoes, which are extremely stable and maneuverable. No prior canoeing experience is necessary for participation in any of our safaris. The ultimate canoeing safari launches in Botswana’s Chobe National Park, crosses to Namibia to the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers where four countries meet, cuts across the Katomboro rapids in Zambia, traverses the Zambezi National Park and ends in Victoria Falls town above the falls.